Next Time
by Supercherrybomb
Summary: Each of their meetings only made Asra want to see her more. To tell her more. Of course he would... the next time.


The noise of the city drummed against his ears, the people yelling, shouting, playing instruments and running all closed in on his small booth. A practical parade marched passed his booth loudly celebrating on their way to the palace. Occasionally, a person would break away from the crowd to admire his delicately crafted merchandise. However, very few actually bought anything.

Asra sighed to himself, quite annoyed at the drunken people who passed his booth. He knew that it was a time to celebrate, the Count finally married after all, but he couldn't help but feel left out. He loved the masquerade it was always so much fun to watch the people of Vesuvia get rowdy. This year, however,he just wanted to go home.

He rubbed his temples hoping to ease the pounding in his head, but it was useless. As much as he wanted to pack up and leave, a large crowd of people surrounded his booth making it impossible for him to slip away.

A girl awkwardly stumbled into the booth, almost as if she was pushed by the crowd. She wasn't quite dressed for the party. Her clothes were plain, not overly blingy or embroidered like everyone else he had seen that night. It was a little refreshing to see someone in a simple outfit. He admired the plain blue colored skirt, short cut top and a matching shawl that fell over her shoulders. Asra noticed a certain aura about the girl.

Confused, the girl looked around the booth for a moment before her eyes fell on him. The long purple curtains of the booth closed behind her.

"Oh…" she muttered, straightening herself and fixing her skirt. "Hi,"

"Hello." Asra replied, his best fake smile plastered on his face, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his head. "Not quite dressed for the occasion, are you?" She glanced down to her clothing and giggled.

"No, I guess not." She fiddled with her shawl, before taking it off and holding it in her arms.

"Do you need a mask? If so, I have plenty!" He gestured toward the masks that sat in front of him. The girl glanced down at them, and smiled with excitement.

"Wow!"She leaned down to the line of colorful masks on the ground. Her fingers brushed against a few of them. "These are amazing! Did you make all of them?"

"My friend and I did them together." He replied, as her fingers stroked the delicate features of a purple mask that was shaped like a rabbit.

"They're amazing. You're both really talented."

"Flattery won't get me to lower the price." He said simply. She laughed.

"I'm actually not looking for a mask." The girl admitted, shifting her eyes around the booth.

"Oh? Perhaps you're searching for something a little more, then?" Asra slowly held up his hand, a light flickered around his fingers. The girl's eyes widened in shock.

"You're a magician?!" She exclaimed. Her interest was piqued and she moved closer to him.

"I am, indeed." He replied, placing some of the masks to the side, freeing up a little room in front of him.

"What do you specialize in?" She questioned, an innocent curiosity flashed in her eyes. Asra found it kind of cute, but quickly shook that thought away.

"Fortunes, mostly." He replied, dragging his mind back to the sale he wanted to make. Asra pulled out a small deck of decorated cards out of his pocket. "Tarot Cards to be more exact." Her eyes fell on his, suspicion mounting.

"Oh really?" She leaned in closer to him, her sapphire eyes narrowing at him. "How do I know you're legit?"

"What do you mean by that?" Asra questioned.

"There are plenty of false magicians in this world."She replied. "You know, people who try to scam others by knowing nothing about magic, yet still give out readings."

"I'm not one of them." Asra replied.

"But how do I know that? I'm not giving you any money if you can't prove you're legit." Asra suddenly realised what this girl was doing, and he sighed in annoyance as he rolled his eyes.

"I don't do readings for free." His eyes didn't falter from hers. A mischievous look flickered within her pools of blue.

"That's fine, I don't want a free reading. But, I'll make you a deal" She crossed her arms defiantly. "Since I like your masks so much, I'm willing to buy your most expensive one. If you prove me wrong." Asra was curious as to why she wouldn't simply pay for the reading, but decided that playing along with her would be more fun.

"You'll pay for the reading too." He said, matter-of-factly.

"Yes. Again, if you prove you're the real deal."

"And if I don't?" Asra asked, amusement in his voice.

"You give me one of the masks for free. I get to choose." The girl replied, gaze slipping to eye the purple rabbit.

"So, you'd get a free reading and a mask?"

"Exactly." The girl placed her hands on her hips.

"In that case...," He began to shuffle the cards, a smirk breaking onto his lips. "I'll have to prove you wrong." Asra gestured for her to sit down across from him. She did, sitting on her knees and placing her hands on her lap.

"What type of reading would you like?"

"Um… let's do…" She thought for a moment, then shrugged to herself. "A happiness reading, I guess. Oh, but have to get to the palace soon, so a quick one please!"

"All right. What's your name?"

"My name? Why?" She crooked one of her eyebrows, confused.

"I need your name for the reading." He placed the deck of cards in the middle of the rug. "It won't be accurate if I can't direct the answers to you."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense." She muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.

Asra stared at her, awaiting her name. It was odd that she knew enough about fortune telling to be suspicious of him, yet she didn't know one of the most basic requirements. Why was that? Asra pondered on this for a moment before the girl spoke again.

"I'm... Aya." She said.

"Aya." The name fell from his lips and a small smirk replaced them. "Lovely name. Now, let's begin."

It only took a few minutes and after shuffling, cutting and picking the cards of the deck, Aya sat with five cards in front of her. Asra slowly flipped each one over in a particular order and explained them to her. When he finished, Aya leaned in closer to the cards.

"Wow." Aya exclaimed,eyes fixed on the tarot cards. "You're amazing!" Asra suddenly winced at her rise of tone, closing his eyes. He massaged his temple slowly before opening his eyes again to see that Aya and moved closer to him. She was now seated in the center of the rug, not noticing that she had knocked over the deck of cards.

"Are you okay?" She asked, genuine concern on her face.

"Perfectly fine." Asra answered, his fake smile returning.

"You're lying." Aya pouted a little before leaninging over and gently placing her hand over his forehead.

"W-what are you-" Asra felt a surge of cool travel throughout his body, eventually stopping at his head. His headache was gone. Stunned, Asra stared at her, the strange aura he felt come from her earlier made sense now. "You're a magician too?"

"No… not really." Aya removed her hand, shyly. "I'm part of a travelling dance troupe. But, my aunt runs a cute little magic shop here in town and I picked up a few things." She shifted her eyes away from him. "Aunt Pietya says I have a knack for healing spells. They're useful when I get hurt during practice and… I get hurt a lot." She laughed a little. Asra felt his heart skip a beat.

"Amazing. I don't think I've ever tried healing spells before. I'm quite partial to water spells." Asra slowly started to pick up the cards that were scattered around the floor. "And fortune telling, of course."

"I absolutely adore fortune telling, but my aunt says that I should focus on a more useful skill if I learn magic." Aya sighed, moving to help with the cleanup. "She won't teach me fortunes."

Aya began collecting the cards, piling them into one hand while examining them with the other. Every card she picked up, she would admire for a few seconds before adding it the stack in her other hand. Asra noticed the sense of longing in her eyes, but she shook her head and handed the small pile she collected back to him.

"Y'know. I could teach you." The words shocked them both.

"Really?!"Aya exclaimed. Asra nodded.

"I mean, I can teach you what a few of the cards mean." He flipped over the first four cards of the deck. "Let's start with the basics first. In each tarot card deck, there are the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana…"

Asra continued to explain the cards to her. Aya was completely fascinated, not once did the interest fade from her eyes. After explaining all the differences between the cards, Asra picked up the cards again.

"The cards are beautiful." She remarked, after Asra had tucked them away.

"Thank you. I made them myself." Asra responded, moving to stand up.

"Seriously? You really made all of them?"

"Yep." Asra picked up a red and gold mask shaped like a lion, mane and all. He turned back to face Aya. "This is the most expensive mask that I have." Aya laughed.

"It's wonderful." She said, standing up from the floor and reaching for it. Once she had it, she placed it over her head. "It's really heavy…" The mask was far too large for her face, and the colors clashed greatly with her outfit. Asra couldn't help but laugh at how gaudy it looked on her.

"It looks great on you!" He teased.

"Uh-huh, sure." Aya removed the mask from her face and looked at the price that was written on the side. She then dug through her bag and handed Asra a small bag. "This should cover it. And the reading." Asra took the bag and opened it. There was a number of different colored coins and small pieces of jewelry. He poured the bag into his hand and counted out three or four of the silver and gold coins and a number of pearl earrings.

"Yeah, this is just the right amount. Thank you for your patronage, Aya." Asra slipped the coins and jewelry into his pocket and handed her the empty bag back.

It was then he suddenly noticed the noise outside of his booth had almost completely died down. Curious, he made his way over to open the curtains. The streets were near empty, only a few people drunkenly stumbled around. The palace lights were dimmed. The masquerade was over for the night.

"Oh no..." Aya appeared by his side, peeking out into the street. She seemed anxious all of a sudden. "I was supposed to perform for the new Countess…"

"Sorry, I guess I kept you too long," Asra muttered, "I hope you won't be in too much trouble."

"No, it's not your fault. I tend to wander off a lot and lose track of time." Aya threw her shawl over her shoulders. "My parents are going to kill me, though."

"Your parents?" Asra questioned, as he rustled through his sack.

"Yeah, they're the leaders of the troupe. I should get going." Aya quickly moved to leave.

"Oh, wait." He handed her the rabbit mask that she was eyeing earlier. "I think this one suits you better."

"I don't have enough for this one." Aya tried giving the mask back, but Asra shook his head.

"Keep it. My apology for keeping you for too long."

"Oh, no. I couldn't."

"Please." Was Asra's response. "I feel bad for making you miss your performance."

"Fine, but next time I'm in town, I'll pay you back."

"That would be kind of hard. I'm a drifter." He slowly began to pick up the masks and put them away into a sack. "I never stay in one place for too long."

"Then, I'll pay you back when we meet again."

"If we meet again." Asra said simply.

"No. When." Aya smiled at him, clutching the masks in her hands. "And when we do… you have to promise to teach me how to tell a basic fortune. Please?"

"Okay." He sighed. "I'll teach you a basic reading if we meet again."

"Promise!" Aya pointed out her pinky finger at him. Asra hesitated for a second and chuckled. She was a stubborn one, wasn't she?

"All right." Although he knew he would never see this girl again, he gently wrapped his pinky finger around hers, ignoring the warm heat that made its way to his cheeks. "I promise I'll teach you. Next time."


End file.
